Timeline of Osomatsu-kun
This is a listing of important dates that occur in and outside the fictional settings of the Osomatsu-kun media franchise. These may be dates that correspond to the first appearances of characters, noteworthy chapters, or events that occur within universe. Of course, as it is fiction and always subject to change, one should know there is no absolute concrete "timeline" beyond some consistent dates given such as the sextuplets' birthday. Out-of-Universe Dates and Publication Pre-Series Events September 14, 1935- Fujio Akatsuka born in Rehe, Manchuria 1960s April 15, 1962- Osomatsu-kun debuts in the 16th issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday. August 1, 1963- Akatsuka's 1961 mini-series Kantaro is revived as a pilot chapter in Shueisha's Shonen Book. The characters of Kantaro and Chibita seem to be intended as one and the same in this period. A second preview chapter is published in October. January 1, 1964- Kantaro starts as a full series in Shonen Book; -kun characters appear in it as his co-stars, most notably Iyami who has a similar mentor or rival role as he would in the usual series. April 1, 1964- A parallel monthly (eventually even less frequent) feature is started in Separate Edition Shonen Sunday, with "Osomatsu Western Oden Duel". April 1, 1965- Kantaro ends, with the succeeding feature seeming to continue the usual character and tone but have him renamed and clarified as "Chibita" for better recognition. May 1, 1965- The series ''Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything'' starts in Shonen Book, featuring Chibita as one of two lead characters. It is retitled "$-chan and Chibita" in later editions. August 1, 1965- Weekly Shonen Sunday runs a special summer vacation "extra number" issue which contains a triple-feature for -kun. Of the stories in this issue, only "The Story of the Sextuplets' Sea Bath" winds up not retained for collected editions for unknown reasons. December 1, 1965- Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything ends. January 1, 1966- The spinoff feature of Uncle Dayōn starts in Shonen Book. January 5, 1966- Weekly Shonen Sunday's New Years' issue produces the crossover "Gyahaha, the Three Musketeers!", with characters from -kun, Q-taro the Ghost (the Fujiko Fujio duo and Studio Zero), and Black Group (Jiro Tsunoda) all participating. February 5, 1966- The first anime adaptation of -kun is broadcast on NET, produced by Mainiching Broadcasting System and Childrens' Corner. However, Akatsuka winds up disappointed by the look of the series and Studio Zero takes more control for the later portion (these wind up being episodes 26 and on). March 1, 1966- The autobiography of Akatsuka, "The Autobiography of Sheeh!" is released. 4 chapters of -kun are reprinted, along with a chapter each of other well-known series he produced at the time. His assistant Kunio Nagatani was responsible for ghostwriting and compiling the interviews and recollections that are told in the book, however. Uncle Dayōn also ends in Shonen Book at this time. March 13, 1966- -kun and Q-taro crossover "Keke-taro the Ghost" is published. April 1, 1966- Start of the parallel features in Boys' Life, Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, and 4th Grade. These variants of the series will either go unreprinted or only in scattered form in collected editions. May 1, 1966- Start of 1st Grade serialization. As with the previous parallel versions, this one will also go mostly uncollected. May 10, 1966- The Shonen Book Kantaro series is compiled into a tankobon, but it is re-titled as Chibita-kun and all references to "Kantaro" have been swapped out to be "Chibita" in the series, with many stories' titles also incredibly changed. Some of these stories will be adapted in the -kun anime later in its run. June 1, 1966- Start of series Chibita Banzai in the 3rd Grade magazine. It was billed as a "Kunio Nagatani and Fujio Pro" creation, with seemingly no involvement from Akatsuka at all leading to why it has not seen reprint. July 1, 1966- Start of Shogakukan Book serialization. Only two stories from this edition will go collected in tankobon, with it having a similar fate to the others above. The story "Parody Version of Treasure Island" is released in Separate Edition Shonen Sunday. The series of Professor Iyami, a "Mitsutoshi Furuya and Fujio Pro" creation, is also released in 5th Grade magazine at this time. October 1, 1966- End of the 4th Grade version of -kun. A new Chibita-kun series is previewed as a one-shot in Shonen Book. Professor Iyami ends. November 1, 1966- Mitsutoshi Furuya and Tokuo Yokota release the feature Today's Leading Role Iyami! in 5th Grade, as a successor to Professor Iyami. December 1, 1966- End of Boys' Life and 2nd Grade versions of -kun, end of Chibita Banzai .The story "The Chushingura of Edo Castle" is also released in Separate Edition Shonen Sunday at this time, and the feature unofficially ends in this magazine for sometime, only releasing two further stories very sporadically (June 1967, March 1969). February 1, 1967- End of the Kindergarten version of -kun. Today's Leading Role Iyami! also completes its run. March 1, 1967- End of Shogakukan Book and 1st Grade versions of -kun. March 25, 1967- The -kun anime ends its broadcast, with its final three weeks having been entirely reruns of previous segments. June 1, 1967- Start of Chibita-kun as a regular series in Shonen Book. Other -kun and Akatsuka characters appear in this series, which has a more dysfunctional and sometimes darker tone. August 13, 1967- -kun halts as a weekly feature in Weekly Shonen Sunday #33, but this is not the end of the series itself. It is instead switched to being a longer, monthly serial starting September 10th. January 1, 1969- Chibita-kun ends in Shonen Book. March 1, 1969- "The Iyami Platoon Strikes" is released as the final story in the Separate Edition Shonen Sunday edition of -kun, spelling the eventual wrap-up in the weekly magazine some time later. April 6, 1969- kun ends in Weekly Shonen Sunday due to the magazine's declining sales and the decision to drop some titles. Though the technical final chapter is released on this date's issue #15, a final crossover between -kun and Extraordinary Ataro occurs in #21. 1970s July 10, 1970- The adult-oriented one-shot of "Mr. Iyami" is released in Big Comic. It was penned by Mitsutoshi Furuya, and seems in ways to be a prototype to the eventual -kun revival. August 20, 1970- Akatsuka's mother Riyo dies of complications from a brain injury, sustained from an earlier accident in the year when she was injured in a gas explosion. His assistants put together the story "Oh! Great Jailbreak" (released on September 13), featuring characters from -kun among other works as they are ruled over by Bakabon's Papa in a prison. January 3, 1971- The newspaper strip of Hatabō ''starts in the Communist publication Red Flag Sunday. Hatabō is redesigned slightly for this version, bearing a red Communist flag on his head, and gains a dog named Wanpei. January 10, 1971- The one-shot "Mr. Iyami: Tomorrow Morning" runs in Big Comic. December 26, 1971- ''Hatabō ''wraps up, as the title of the feature switches to ''Wanpei ''for the following year. Its content stays relatively the same, until it is further retooled as "Wanpei and Mo-chan" for 1973. January 23, 1972- A remake of the chapter '"Chibita the Safe-Cracker"' is published in Weekly Shonen King #5, previewing and acting as a sort of pilot for Shonen Gahosha's relaunch of the series. March 19, 1972- The Shonen King version of -kun officially debuts in issue #13. Although the title is still ''Osomatsu-kun, this may be misleading as the title winds up centered around Iyami; Osomatsu barely ever appears. July 1, 1973- The story and autobiographical essay of "There's No Wonderful Business like that of a Gag!" is released in Separate Edition Shonen Jump. It is later collected in its own tankobon and appears in the Akebono edition of -kun, but further editions of the series leave it out due to the fact it was not technically part of the 1970s version. December 24, 1973- The Shonen King version of -kun finishes in issue #53 with "Iyami and the Beanstalk". August 1, 1976- -kun is briefly revisited in Monthly Shonen Jump, with a one-shot later re-titled "The Return of Osomatsu-kun" in collected editions. 1980s December 10, 1981- The educational book Nyarome's Fun Mathematics Classroom is released, featuring many -kun characters taking part in the story and lessons. August 11 through August 22, 1982- An animation adaptation of "Nyarome's Fun Mathematics Classroom" is broadcast on the program Hitachi Television City. As in the book, -kun characters appear but are mostly recast with no reprisals of previous actors. November 1, 1987- -kun is revived in the monthly Kodansha magazine Comic BomBom, with the greenlight and anticipation of Pierrot's new anime adaptation. A pilot film for the anime was produced around this time. February 1, 1988- TV Magazine commences its own parallel feature of -kun. This and the Comic BomBom serialization are classified as the 3rd phase/final stage of the series. Additional crossover features between -kun and the revival of The Genius Bakabon are run in this magazine from May to October 1988. February 13, 1988- The 2nd anime adaptation of -kun starts broadcast on Fuji TV. June 1, 1988- "Adventure Novel: Fujio Akatsuka Theatre" (アドベンチャーノベルス 赤塚不二夫劇場) is released by JICC Publishing, containing manga illustrations to go along with its story. It features the cast of -kun, alongside other Akatsuka series. June 26, 1988- "The Osomatsu-kun Quiz and Riddle Encyclopedia of 1000 Questions" (おそ松くんのクイズなぞなぞ大百科１０００問) is released by Kodansha, as both merchandise for the manga and the recent anime. October 10, 1988- "Osomatsu-kun's Burst of Laughter World-zansu" (おそ松くんの爆笑ワールドざんす), a guide book to the series, is put out by Kodansha. The composition of the book was headed by a Tsutomu Oyamada and the illustrations were provided by assistants at Fujio Pro, although Akatsuka's handwriting can be confirmed within. It contains manga and supplemental activities about the characters. March 18, 1989- A theatrically-aired episode and short film "Greetings from the Watermelon Planet!" is released for the Pierrot series of -kun, but is screened at the Toei Manga Movie Festival. April 1, 1989- The feature "Where are these Famous Characters Now?" is released in Weekly Shonen Sunday as part of a 30th anniversary celebration for the magazine. In this story, readers learn of the (apocryphal) deaths of Fujio Akatsuka and nearly the whole cast of -kun, with Chibita being the only survivor. December 30, 1989- End of the 2nd anime adaptation of -kun; Pierrot's Heisei Genius Bakabon starts broadcast a week after. 1990s January 1990- End of the TV Magazine version of -kun. March 1990- End of the Comic Bombom version of -kun. August 25, 1990- Pierrot releases the OVA, "Iyami Alone in the Wind', which had been planned as the 78th episode of the TV series but held back by the decision to wrap it up. October 1990- Hong Kong's Asia Television network starts broadcast of a Cantonese-dubbed edition of the Pierrot anime, re-titled 我係西瓜刨 '(Ngo hai Sai gwaa paau, "I am Sai Gwa-pau"). It is the first confirmed dub to exist for this version. October 1991- Studio Pierrot reunites the cast and staff of ''Osomatsu-kun and Heisei Genius Bakabon for one last production, the two-part "'''Bakabon: the 3000 Mile Quest for Osomatsu's Curry" airing on Fuji TV. June 25, 1993- Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro collaborate with Sapporo Black beer for the ad campaign "Osomatsu-kun Grows Up", published as a story and advertisement in Big Comic magazine. The cast are aged 25 years, with the story said to take place that many years after the events of the manga. 2000s August 25, 2000- Akatsuka is rushed into emergency surgery after falling and hitting his head, suffering a hematoma. He recovers later in the year and decides to focus on releasing Braille picture books of his characters for blind children. April 10, 2002- Akatsuka suffers an intra-cerebral hemorrhage during a hospital examination. All creative activities cease at this point in hope of his recovery, although it is later revealed that he had fallen into a persistent vegetative state in some point in 2004. July 25, 2006- Akatsuka's second wife Machiko dies while taking care of her husband, with her death being reported to be from a hemorrhage. She had become the president of Fujio Pro at the time due to his absence. November 2005- Pachinko company Daiichi puts out "Pachislot Osomatsu-kun", with a limited amount of the 1988 anime cast reprising their roles (the role of Osomatsu is recast due to the death of Yo Inoue). August 2, 2008- Fujio Akatsuka is pronounced dead of pneumonia at age 72, having never recovered from his state. It is later revealed that his former wife Tomoko had preceded him in death three days prior, when his daughter Rieko reflected on this period of time. July 31, 2009- eBookJapan puts out a digital release of -kun, with the Shonen King, BomBom, and TV Magazine runs reprinted in full for the first time. 2010s August 2012- SanThree's pachinko game CR Osomatsu-kun is released, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the manga. New animated cut-scenes by Studio Pierrot appear in the game, and are patterned more after the style of the manga. October 5, 2015- Debut of Osomatsu-san on TV Tokyo. The surge of popularity results in increase of eBook sales for Osomatsu-kun. March 28, 2016- Osomatsu-san's first season ends, but many collaborations and merchandise continue to follow. April 2017- Daiichi releases a remake of "Pachislot Osomatsu-kun", put together with the Osomatsu-san Production Committee. This new release merges elements and footage of -san with CGI visuals of -kun patterned after the 1988 anime. October 2, 2017- Osomatsu-san's second season airs on TV Tokyo March 26, 2018- The end of Osomatsu-san's second season. Character Debuts The full main cast is formed by the point of 1966, in time for the first anime series' production. Some notable limited or recurring characters are also acknowledged in this listing. 1962 April 15/#16- The Sextuplets, Mom, and Dad April 22/#17- An unnamed Chibita (then still bearing Kantaro's old look) and his eventually-discarded older brother. June 17/#25- Totoko Yowai. Mention of her having an older brother who has the stage name "Fighting Yowai". December 9/#50- Totoko's mother first seen. 1963 January 27/#5- Totoko's father is first seen, along with a formal appearance of Fighting Yowai (with a redesign compared to what was seen of him on the boxing poster) March 17/#12- Moguramaru, then unnamed May 12/#20- First sighting of an unnamed Iyami. He has more of a role in the following week's chapter, and then is named as "Iyami" in the chapter for June 16th/#25. August 18/#34- An unnamed Dekapan, who does not yet have his verbal tics. He is named within the following year due to a name contest. 1964 March 15/#12- Hatabō, initially unnamed, as a friend of Chibita. He receives his name later in the year. 1965 March 21/#13- Esper Kitty/ESP Kitty, later known for his usage in -san, as well as the debut of a certain bald unibrowed man that will also come to be utilized by that version (however, this character appeared prior to -kun in Leave it to Chota). November 1/Separate Edition Shonen Sunday for November 1965- Dayōn, who appears in Weekly Shonen Sunday #46 afterwards with his verbal tic. In-Universe Dates May 24- The sextuplets' birthday. If using 1962 as the base for their age at the start of the series, their birth year would be 1952 (in the more common case of 10 years old) or 1950 (early cases of "12 years old"). December 8- The anniversary of the Matsuno parents' marriage (stated in chapter "Don't Be Afraid to do Good Things without Clashing"). "Where are these Famous Characters Now?" In this short gag story and column, the following dates are given for the demises of the -kun cast: March 6, 1970 ("Where are these Famous Characters Now?")- The entire Matsuno family died due to consuming improperly-prepared fugu January 8, 1971- Iyami dies of peridontitis December 8, 1975- Dayōn tries for a Guinness World Record of swallowing large objects, but chokes to death December 9, 1975- Hatabō is struck by lightning due to the flag on his head acting like a rod April 1, 1978- Totoko dies after attempting to diet but wasting away to only 3kg August 6, 1980- Dekapan dies of tetanus after wearing memory foam underwear that rips open his scrotum The story then culminates with the gag that "Fujio Akatsuka died January 1, 1988 of committing suicide due to his inability to draw manga and his alcoholism" (a self-deprecation of Akatsuka's poor condition at this period of his career). Of course, as readers know, the real Akatsuka had lived much longer after this. Category:Osomatsu-kun